Say hello to Valencia College

Valencia Community College has dropped its middle name, convinced a shorter moniker best suits a college that awards more associate degrees than any in the country — and will soon be adding four-year degrees to its mix.

"The name Valencia College conveys who we are and all that we offer and what we may yet deliver in fulfillment of our mission," wrote President Sandy Shugart in an email to faculty and staff, explaining why he favored a name change.

The college's Board of Trustees voted today to approve the name Valencia College. The name change takes effect in July.

The Orlando-based Valencia has five campuses and a fall enrollment of about 43,000 students. Two-thirds of the Orange and Osceola county students who start college do so at Valencia.

Community colleges — in name at least — are going fast in Florida, as these institutions expand their bachelor's degree offerings and pick new names meant to convey new images and new options.

Valencia is the 18th of 28 institutions in what is now the Florida College System to drop "community" from its name. Seminole Community College, for example, became Seminole State College of Florida last year.

Valencia did not initially move to join that pack, confident in its role as a place for a wide variety of students, from top-notch academics to those, as Shugart said, "who didn't get their act together until they were 25."

But when the University of Central Florida moved to phase out several bachelor's degree programs that Valencia graduates often entered, the college reconsidered.

"There's student demand for these programs, and there's real need in industry," Shugart said, so Valencia decided to pick up those offerings.

Starting next fall, Valencia will offer bachelor degree programs in electrical and computer engineering technology and in radiologic and imaging science.

The college has made a name for itself with two-year degrees, however, and that will remain its key mission, Shugart said.

Valencia awarded more associate degrees than any other institution in the country during the 2008-09 school year, the latest year for which figures are available, according to Community College Week. Valencia produced 5,128 degrees that year, nearly 2,000 more than the next biggest producer.

College officials sought input from students, faculty and others on whether to change the name. The simple, and flexible, Valencia College seemed to do well. "That gives us room to be who we are," Shugart said.

The college decided against adding the word "state" to its name, he added, because that seemed to give the impression of a residential college.